BENGALURU: The Special Court for Lokayukta cases has discharged MR Seetharam, former minister and chairman of Ramaiah Education Society, and Chikkarevanna, who was the executive director of Professional Global Infrastructure Private Ltd., in the disproportionate assets case against the then Managing Director of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd TN Chikkarayappa.
They were accused of abetting and aiding Chikkarayappa to accumulate and legalise his alleged illegal assets.The court, however, refused to discharge NK Cibi Chakravarthy, owner of Kannan Borewells, and one Dr Mohan Kumar M in the case. Chakravarthy and Dr Kumar are facing charges of abetting and aiding Chikkarayappa to accumulate and legalise his alleged illegal assets.
Judge KM Radhakrishna passed the order after hearing the applications filed by the four accused. While working as an executive engineer in Bengaluru Urban ZP from 2000 to 2003, Chikkarayappa entrusted a project estimated at Rs 2.5 crore to drill borewells to Chakravarthy. For doing this favour, Chakravarthy, as a benami, purchased a site for Rs 20 lakh in 2001 at Dollars Colony and built a house for Chikkarayappa and his family.
Eventually, the house was registered in the names of Chikkarayappa’s father-in-law and sister-in-law by way of a sale deed executed by Chakravarthy for Rs 62 lakh. In 2007, Chikkarayappa made his wife file a civil suit against her father for her rights over ancestral properties. The house was registered in Chikkarayappa’s wife’s name by way of a compromise decree of partition in 2018.
Chikkarayappa allegedly bought a car in Chakravarthy’s name and a sofa set worth Rs 18 lakh for his house. Chakravarthy also rented a flat in Pebble Bay Apartment by paying Rs 10 lakh as deposit and Rs 1 lakh as rent per month for Chikkarayaappa’s daughter and her husband.
The court said these transactions led to suspicion against Chakravarthy and there is a prima facie case to frame charges against him. Similarly, there is a prima facie case against Dr Kumar, who paid Rs 25 lakh to Chikkarayappa’s daughter to complete her medical course. Seetharam was accused of giving a loan of Rs 50 lakh from his Society to Chikkarayappa’s daughter to do her MD in Pediatrics. The court ruled that the charges against him are baseless.Chikkarevanna was accused of paying Rs 25 lakh for Chikkarayappa’s daughter’s course.